Garmin Satnavs

[neil]

Does it drive the car for you? If not whats the point of upgrading other than for the sake of buying a new toy if the old one works perfectly?

NJR

[Peter Crosland]

Are you usually so stupid or just on Tuesday evenings? The old one was not longer supported by TomTom.

Plonk!

[alan]

That's that advantage of the TT App on a smart phone. The whole map is on the SD card and you don't need a data/phone connection to use it.

There is a gotcha. If you always start the app without a connection it will attempt to phone home on the 100th(??) start-up and if you haven't got a connection at this time it will not start. It also attempts to phone home after a month without a connection. The work around is the start TT with a wi-fi or data connection occasionally to reset these time-out counters. As there are free (for life of the phone?]) map updates it's probably advisable to connect at home via Wi-fi to check for an upgrade or download a updated map - which also resets the time-outs.

One minor drawnback with my phone is that the GPS receiver takes around

5 to 10 minutes to obtain a position fix when turned on in a new location[1]. The receiver in my dedicated TT unit takes around 30 seconds. Other phones may have a better specified GPS receiver, or better aerials. [1] I turn Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS off when not required to extend my phone battery life from around a day to around 4 days. When in use as a satnav I run it from the car's power socket/cigar lighter

[AnthonyL]

I've got an old Garmin c510 which uses TMC. Has helped a couple of times but just like radio traffic news the item seems to come on just AFTER I've passed the last exit junction.

It's a fairly basic model and I've not updated the maps so I end up in mid-field (according to the display) every now and again and it has tried to divert me across a tractor track.

The one oddity which really has me curious is that every time I go on the Nottingham Ring Road beyond a certain point the display locks. Voice instructions are ok but the animated car is at right angles to the road and not moving. Bit like the Bermuda Triangle but not in Bermuda.

[Tim Watts]

On Wednesday 09 October 2013 21:31 Rod Speed wrote in uk.d-i-y:

That's not an absolute given...

Copilot does an arbitrary number of waypoints :)

[jstam]

I have had 4 Garmins. 1 200 series, 2 350s and a 600 series.

I upgraded to the 350 series because I needed european maps, broke the glas s on 2 of those over a couple of years and then had to buy the 600 series o ne.

I loved the fact that I could use an SD card to play music using the SATNAV this meant it would pause if the SATNAV needed to give directions.

On my last holiday on the way home through France the last Garmin broke and I decided to try Navfree in my Android. This easily got me home (Mainly mo torways etc.). Advantages of a SATNAV: 1. Dedicated (no sudden noises of SMS arriving etc. ). 2. Fixed point of reference (you do not have to explain the iPhone totoi ng partner how to work your android phone). 3. Fairly fast position finding . Disadvantages: 1. Maps are always outdated and the offline copies of maps a re always incomplete. POIs with several names often only occur with one nam e in SATNAVS so finding destinations can be tricky. 2. Expensive for what y ou get. 3. Store POI inside the gadgets, so if it gets stolen or lost you n eed to re-invent them. 4. You cannot access google-maps or bing-maps from t he device for the latest info.

I have since used Androids with Navfree for day-to-day use and use a chines e SATNAV

t?ie=UTF8&psc=1 on holiday. The UI of that one is not as nice as the Ga rmin, but the actual maps are better. One clear advantage of a phone is that you bring it in to roadside places t hat have WiFi to check the latest travel conditions etc. Another advantage is that you have more than one with you, so there are alternatives if the S atnav breaks down. As 3G becomes more ubuiquitous and affordable I will start using Waze and G oogle-Maps/Navigation more and more and deicated SATNAVS less and less unle ss I get a job that requires very frequent car-use.

What to look for in a SATNAV?

1. Good maps.
2. Good Search facility.
3. Updates.
4. I have found bleutooth to automatically dial destinations on your phone more hassle than solution.
5. Built in Bleutooth or Headphone is essential to use the car-stereo.
6. Use as a CD-replacement is fantastic, needs MP3 player and needs to be a ble to use SD or MicroSD cards.

I have tried Waze and Googl-navigate over 3G inside the UK and both worked well. With enough coverage at an acceptabkle price that would be my favourd solution.

just my experiences. J.